The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-07-10
CHURCH AND STATE.

It's human nature to exaggerate. we
soar to the heaven of ecstacy, or arr
thrust into the abyss of misery. Love
and hate, favor and prejudice, are the
extremes of which reason is The mean
We are apt to consider good thing
bevond criticism, and bad one beyor q
redemption. The devil is said not to DC
as black as we paint him. (How is that's
Brother Nelson2) And after all, to
claim faultIess judgment and infinite
m.ntal grasp, for humanity, is to claim
the attributes of Deity for a creature
blinded by passion and whose field OF
observation is point IN the great uni
verse of ma ter, and second IN the
eternity of time.
The Mormons concede their belief
in p, ly5amy, and then a charitable
world comes along with little list ,
making it appear that the Mormons are
not only Asiatic in their marriage Gus
toms, but are given to various otbe'
trifiing offenses, such as union OF church
and state, murder, treason and arson.
1t is the old, old story of the cheerful
ness that generous world displays in
helping a man down hill, in decorating,
as il were, the man who takes an occa-
sional drink, or, better, is supposed to
do so, with not only the order of Con
| frmed Sot, but with various other hon
orabIe insignia indicating an active
mem oership in the orders of the Wife
Beaten, the Knights of the Unchaste
and the Ribald Atheists. Once i'm
posed they become as firmly fixed and
as burdensome as the pack of Christian.
1t is of the gratuirous charge agairsl
the MormOns that they have established
a union of church and state in Utah
that we wish now to treat. And we
wish to treat and have it treat, d,
logically. Is it presamptuous in a
Mormon to ask his adversary to cling to
the canons of reason? Is logic such
rare and costly jewel, or have the OPP
ponents of Mormonism become so
habitually ungenerous, that we must
ever expect to secure the stone OF AFRO
gance, when we crave the bread of
1t was reserved for the Supreme
Court of the United States to set the |
chief example in this respect. The |
case of the United States against |
involving the question OF
the philosophical tendencies of Mormon
plural marriage, came before them.
It was expected that the question
Tould receive the serious consideration
hat It's importance demanded. The
equel was farce; the question was
gnored. and the point in controversy
Issumed without discussion. The
curt decided substantially as follows:
10 act INJURIOUS to society can be sane
ioued in this country under the guar
ntee of religious liberty; Mormon
lural marriage is injurious to society;
therefore, it cannot be sanctioned under
aid guarantee.
The first proposition needs no dis
ussion; no one will dispute it. The
econd was assumed by the court, and
be third was the inevitable conclusion,
nd this is the manner in which the re-
gion and the rights of an unpopular
ect were trifed with by the most
ugust tribunal of the globe.
Union of church and state exists,
here, as in England, the state q
rovides for the support and govern
lent of a particular church. The
hurch of England receives at the Q
ands of Parliament special favors and
lVantages which are denied to others. C
he Queen is the igurative head of the s
lurch as she is the fgurative head of t
lie State. The prelates of the Anglican u
hurch are by virtue of their ecclesias- "
cal position, peers of the realm and n
Iembers of the House of Lords. Eng q
nd has made law respecting an es- (,
4blishment of religion, and taxes are n
We'd upon people of all shades of ~
oinion to support the church thus es- n
blished. n
Do you find these things in Utah? q
OH do not and you have never c.
und them. The laws have been
Id are absolutely impartial.
be Mormon Church, it is true, n
as chartered by the Territorial Legis- T
ture; but it is the only church that Ell
yer applied for chartered rights in the u
erritory. And, moreover, the charter el
'anted was entirely unobjectionable n
republican principles No Mormon Sc
IS ever held political Office in this pi
erritory by virtue of his ecclesiastical NJ
ices; every officeholder has been tt
ected by the people or appointed by
Ieir representatives. as provided for
: law. No Gentle has been taxed by
e State as has no Mormon, to support C
e Mormon Church IN any way.
here has been absolutely nothing ia ! i
e Statutes of this Territory that g.
IS Disseminated against any other 4
urch in favor of the Mormon Church